Mike Dee never truly leaves a team behind. Not completely, at least not in spirit.

That’s why you’ll find the Padres new president catching the Dolphins in a Monday Night Football game in a conference room at Petco Park, why he was pulling for the Padres seven years ago in the last playoff push and why he hurt for his friends in San Diego when the front office carrousel began to spin after Dee first followed former Padres president Larry Lucchino to Boston more than a decade ago.

Four team presidents, three ownership groups and a number of front office personnel and philosophy changes later, the Padres are still recovering from organizational inconsistencies that have played a role in the franchise posting losing seasons in five of the past six seasons as a number of teams in similar small- to mid-size markets – Tampa Bay and Oakland – have found ways to contend year in and year out.

Both the Rays and A’s are in the playoffs that began this week – as are the St. Louis Cardinals – as franchises propped up by strong player development systems and consistent leadership that the latest front office regime is trying to implement in its attempt to turn around the Padres’ organization.

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“We’ve been through a lot of turmoil and a lot of changes – whether you’re talking about the owners or CEOs or (other front office personnel) – since my departure,” said Dee, who has spent the last 12 years in the Red Sox and Dolphins front office after seven years as a top aide to Lucchino in San Diego. “It’s been anything but stable. … It starts with ownership and their long-term commitment, but it’s impossible if you don’t have a stable, entrenched front office to have consistency year in and year out. It takes time for a team to mature, like it takes time for a team on the field to come together.”

Tapped as the Padres’ fifth president since Lucchino departed in 2001, Dee is stressing stability as he settles back into a franchise presented with all sorts of hurdles in the years following their second World Series berth in 1998.

Their payroll can’t compete with the Yankees’ or now even the Dodgers’, they’ve routinely misfired at the top of their drafts and the revolving doors in the front office and owners box have made it difficult to hone in on a philosophy capable of contending with some of the game’s more in-sync franchises.

In other words, catch-up hasn’t been exactly easy, but the in-roads appear to be in motion as Josh Byrnes begins his third offseason as the Padres’ general manager and fourth overall with the organization

“I’ve been around this organization for 30 years and at times we’ve been disjointed,” said Randy Smith, a former general manger now overseeing player development and international scouting with the Padres. “Right now, as far as having everyone on the same page, it’s as good as it’s ever been. From scouting to player development to the major league staff, we’re all on the same page.”